As the United States withdraws from its global leadership role in development aid, the EU has an opportunity to step up.
Doing so will promote human development around the world, particularly in the areas of gender equality and global health. This can create goodwill towards Europe that will serve our long-term strategic interests.
America’s political and financial withdrawal from the 2030 Agenda under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is particularly harmful to gender equality and to sexual and reproductive health and rights. This is already having devastating consequences for millions of women and girls, and in the long term it will affect the resilience and economic development of societies.
As the European Commission begins work on its next budget, to run from 2028 to 2035, it must choose whether it wants to follow the US down this path of disengagement, or instead stay true to and follow its core humanitarian and development values and principles.
Development and defence budgets intertwined
Development budgets are under threat in Europe as member states prioritise security and migration over human development. But it’s a mistake to see development aid as competing for funding against migration and security. These issues are intertwined and investing in development will reduce migration push factors.
We were among a large group of MEPs for Sexual and Reproductive Rights to write to President Ursula von der Leyen last month urging her to increase development spending and create dedicated budget lines to advance gender equality globally.
Closing the women’s health gap would boost global GDP by $1 trillion by 2040, consultancy McKinsey has estimated. These statistics should compel us to act sooner rather than later.
But this is about morality as well as strategic interest. We need strong feminist leadership, especially when anti-rights movements in the US and Europe are trying to construct their new global order. That means stepping up our funding.
The numbers are stark. For the first time in six years, official development assistance (ODA) globally decreased in 2024. Donor countries only spent 0.33% of their combined gross national income (GNI) on development aid, well below the 0.7% target set by the OECD. This number will fall further in 2025 as the US sharply cuts back its spending through USAID as well as France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and others.
Budget cuts risk funding gaps
This drop exacerbates already critical funding gaps in global health. The United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) said in 2023 that contraceptive access for more than 20 million women was at risk. Around the same time, advocacy group Family Planning 2030 warned of an additional 26 million unintended pregnancies and 11 million unsafe abortions each year.
Failure to act now would be economically shortsighted. While meeting the global demand for sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) would cost €9.3 billion annually, every euro invested in modern contraception saves €2.20 in maternal and newborn healthcare costs.
We have worked hard in the FEMM Committee to negotiate dedicated budget lines and push for advanced gender mainstreaming mechanisms and gender impact assessments. We are committed to protecting ODA targets focused on human development and gender equality for the most vulnerable — those whose suffering and unmet potential often go unseen.
Europe's resilience, stability and prosperity are interwoven with global wellbeing. We should not have to fight for equality and protection of human rights, the very principles on which the European Union was founded. Let’s build and invest in sustainable, equal partnerships and inclusive futures — not walls.
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